Filming - First day:

Completed by: Me

Today (Thursday 24th November) was our First day of filming which we filmed the 'outdoor' scene in Ashridge. For this scene the characters consisted of the only main character, Snow White who was played by Annie Lock - a student from school.


People present:

• Annie Lock as Snow White
• Ellie Weeks - School friend
• Nicola Ho
• Chloe King
• Me.

What scenes did we film?

• 1
• 2
• 3

Where did we film?

• The Nicky Line. Unfortunately, we had to change the location last minute because we had no transport to get to Ashridge, so in result we felt it was safer to film in a location we all knew and was close to home. In addition, Nicola went to the location to see if any of the health and safety rules applied.

Roles and Responsibilities:

• Nicola, Chloe and I created Snow Whites make up and fake blood using dark red paint.
• Ellie Weeks designed Snow Whites Hair.
• We each set up the scenery and had taken turns in filming.
• We followed the health and safety rules listed in the post from week 6.

Equipment used and individual brought them to the scene:

• Video camera - Me
• Tri-pod - Me
• camera to take photos for evidence - Nicola
• 16 apples - Me and Nicola walked to the shops in a free period and bought 2 packs of 8 apples
• hazard sign - Nicola
• Refreshments - Me, Nicola and Chloe
• Emergency phone numbers - Me, Nicola and Chloe
• story board - Nicola
• Make up - Chloe
• Fake blood - Me, Nicola and Chloe
• Costume - Me and Nicola

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: In the story board consists of a knife at the end of the opening. Nicola was supposed to get this, however, as a group we had a discussion and decided that walking around with this weapon during the day was an extreme health hazard. Therefore, as a group we have decided that in the opening a knife will no longer be used.


Filming:
At lunch, Nicola, Chloe and I began to prepare for filming, making sure Annie's costume, hair and making were ready, camera was fully charged (which it was) and we had all equipment needed ready to take down to the location. When Annie was ready, we walked to the location which was 'the Nicky Line' which is directly behind the school. Our aim was to film in the afternoon as we didn't want it to be too dark as we were using natural lighting, therefore, we began filming at 2pm and finished at 4pm.

When filming, we first began to get a LS/WS shot of Snow White running away from the camera, who kept looking behind in panic. We wanted to make sure we had captured all outdoor, running scenes when it was light and not raining, as Snow White was barefoot. This followed on from capturing a MS shot of Snow white running still looking behind, however, the camera was catching the side of her. Then, capturing a CU shot of Snow White's waist when running, followed by a 2 more ECU shots of her running, filming her feet and legs. This lead onto filming the 'hazard sign' shot which was HS and the shot where Snow White is laying on the floor. We decided to film these shots as soon as possible, as the later the day got the temperature decreased, however, the forecast had a overcasts throughout the whole shooting process. Although, we filmed various shots of Snow White running, so when it comes to the editing process, we had a more wide range of shots to choose from. We each had taken turns in filming and as it was filmed during school hours, there were not many students or other individuals around. In result, it wasn't raining or cold which was a huge benefit.


Conclusion:

• Overall, i feel that Annie did do a brilliant job at portraying a frighten Snow White, as she gave us ideas on how she should act which i feel was better then how we originally planned it. In result, we did decided that Annie was going to wear boots, however she happily wanted to film the scenes in barefoot which does help to demostrate distubance.
• Unfortunately, the ground was uneven which made filming a bit difficult, however, we did manage to over come this by practising the scenes many times before filming in different positions.
• We had a lucky day as it was overcast and humid, which allowed us to get on with the filming.
• During the day, as a group i believe that we all felt we could have been more organised. For example, we suddenly had to change location last minute which affected our overall filming, however, i do feel that this was a better location as we were close to home, it was safer and allowed us to use more time filming as it would orgially take us 10 minutes to get to Asridge by car. However the Nicky Line is very similar to Ashridge so it didn't create much difference visually. Also, Nicola and I also had to walk to the shops in a free period to buy 2 packs of apples, and during lunch, Nicola, Chloe and I had to create fake blood using paint as Chloe was unable to make it beforehand. Luckily, we were all focused and ready to film.
• As a group we were all happy Ellie Weeks was there to help give suggestions, look after equipment when we were setting up other scenery or practising filming.
• However, overall i feel that today with the filming process went excellent as we all had similar ideas with filming which Annie followed along with easily and also gave suggestions. We did have some disagreements, however overcome these as soon as possible and continued with filming. I am now looking forward to filming the rest of the opening and editing as i am extremely happy with what we have produced so far.

Here are some images Nicola had taken of filming process:

Fake Blood

Ellie doing Annie's Hair

Snow Whites final costume, she will be barefoot

The Nicky Line that we filmed in

Me filming the location and surrounding. Here i was practising
various shots and focusing the camera.

Annie practising running before we filmed.

The apples are lying on the ground
as if they have fallen of the trees.

Hazard sign and apples

Animatic - Part 2:

Completed by: Me

In today's media lesson, we began putting the animated story board onto the editing software 'Final Cut Express HD' which we manage to finish.

What did we do in today's lesson?

• After we coloured in all the shots from the story board - blog below - We began changing each image file to 'JPEG', as this allowed us to upload the images onto Final Cut.
• We then imported the images onto Final Cut
• Followed by re-arranged the images to match the story board and the right length of time.
• Using the music software 'Garage Band' to add any additional sound effects, adding the song 'Dead Silence' which i found.

After we had got the Animatics sorted and in order, Nicola and I went onto 'Garage Band' which is a software that consists of a large range of sound effects and music suited for all types of movies. Our aim was to look for fantasy-like, enigmatic music which gradually blends into high-pitched, tensional music which is posing a question on the audience. Therefore, we have found a range of sound effects which we feel will suit our theme to the movie and will be added into the Animated created. In addition, we used the sound effects I had found individually (posted in week 4), which is sounds of a women running, screaming and a heart beat which we have added in and have recored my voice ready the script and biting into the apple.


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: We wont be adding the voice over and institutional logo onto the animatics, however, we will add this onto the opening when finished. The voice over will be recorded straight onto the imac's and Chloe will download the logo and import it straight on.

Animatics:




Conclusion: 
In conclusion, creating an animated, moving storyboard enabled us to add music and sound effects has been extremely re-awarding and helpful as it laid out an understanding of how our opening is estimated to visually look like. Working in a group, we may all had various ideas, therefore, creating this allowed us to bring our final ideas together. However, i do admire how the final out come has turned out and am looking forward to filming. In addition, allowing us to do this has also helped us will our skills of using the editing soft wares 'Final Cut' and 'Garage Band' which is very helpful for when we editing the final piece and has allowed us to gain more knowledge about these two software's. I feel that this as been very successful and as a group we we all agreed on the same ideas that came together. However, we have had some problems with the size of the photos which you can see during the animatics, when the video hits 43 seconds the images unexpectedly are smaller than usual, which we believe they might have been saved as different files. Although, i do love how the music easily flows with the video which is something we did not expect.

Animatic - Part 1:

Completed by: Me

Nicola, Chloe and I have began to create a Animatics of our story board which is still in process. This will allow us to practise our editing skills, as well as creating a visual and colourful understanding of how we want our filming to be produced.

What we have done so far?

We have began using the editing software 'pixlr.com' to colour in the shots. So far, we have coloured in all the screen shots, so next lesson we will put it together to make a short movie animatic. Although, at first, as a group we did have some difficulty working the various different tools, however, we manage to enable the tools we needed to use

How have/will we do this? - so far, we have done everything listed in italic:

1. After Nicola created the drawn story board, we scanned it onto the imac computers, then saved them onto our accounts.
2. We then print-screened each shot to make it a single image and rotated them clockwise
3. Then using 'www.pixlr.com' to add colour and text, experimenting with the 'Paint Tool,' changing the opacity of the colour and depth of the brush size. This allowed us to create shadowed areas within the image.
4. When finished, we used an editing software called 'Final Cut' which allow us to create and put together our animated version of our story board - we will do this next lesson.

Here are some photos below of our editing in process:

Soft ware we used to colour in the shots - Pixlr.com

Editing on Pixlr.com

In conclusion, this animated version of our story board did take some time to create, however, it was extremely useful and feel we have created it successfully so far. In result, it allowed us to see our story board visually moving and enabled the audience to get a better understanding of what our aim is going to be when filming the opening. In addition, doing this activity did allow me to gain more skills using pixlr for when we edit the final piece and I am looking forward to using the editing software 'Final Cut'.

Action Plan - Week 7:

Completed by: Me

Here is my seventh week action plan which will structure what I will produce within the seventh week of the set time period.

For week 7, we will complete:

We will do individually:

• Gather the equipment needed, clothing etc, ready for filming day.

As a group:

• Create an anamatics of our storyboard
• Start filming

Filming order and Finalized dates:

Completed by: Me

Scene order and additional information needed:

Scene 1: Institution logo

Scene 2 : Establishing shot of Snow White in her stereotypical outfit, looking into a hand held mirror, the camera will be zooming in on her reflection ( will be a normal reflection at first, then dissolve into another reflection of scary Snow White.) Prologue whilst the credits are running through with an overview of the location.

Scene 3: From the reflection of ‘scary Snow White’, the camera will then see Snow White chucking the hand held mirror to the corner from an over the shoulder shot. Big close-up shot of broken pieces of the cracked mirror. Big close-up shot of broken pieces of the cracked mirror will dissolve and fade into a black background.

Scene 4: The film title – ‘The Black Apple’ will appear on the black background.

Scene 5: Fast cuts will be shown of Snow White running in the woods. Loud BANG! And immediately, the screen turns black.

Scene 6: Hear a loud munching sound of her biting into an apple whilst a black screen is shown

Scene 7: Camera will cut into an extreme close-up shot of Snow White biting into the apple.


Equipment needed on filming day:

• Camera
• Tri-pod
• Recorder
• Computers
• Snow White's costume - (long yellow skirt, white blouse, blue cardigan/waist coat and red hair band)
• Fake blood
• Mud
• Scissors - we will have to be extremely careful with this, as this can be a health hazard if missed-used and will not expose this weapon when not using.
• Knife - we will have to be extremely careful with this, as this can be a health hazard if missed-used and will not expose this weapon when not using
• Dark red apple - pack of 8.
• Make up- red lip stick, pale foundation, little eye make up.
• Hair brush - will need to back comb Snow White hair after scene 3.
• Hazard sign
• Extra copy of the script and story board
• We will be using natural lighting - any effects needed will be added in when editing.
• Refreshments
• Emergency numbers
• First Aid kit
• Protective equipment.

Filming order and finalized dates:


1.
Date:  Thursday 24th November 2011 (Afternoon) After School
Location: Ashridge
Equipment needed: Camera, Tri-pod, hand-held mirror.
Characters needed: Snow White

•  Second half of scene 3 - The second half of scene 3, Snow Whites dressed will be destroyed.

2.
Date: Thursday 24th November 2011 (Afternoon) After School
Location: Ashridge
Equipment needed: Camera, Tri-pod
Characters needed: Snow White

• Scene 5 - we will record the heavy breathing.

3.
Date: Thursday24th November 2011 (Afternoon) After School
Location: Ashridge
Equipment needed: Camera, Tri-pod, a dark red apple
Characters needed: Snow White

• Scene 7

4.
Date: Thursday 1st December (Afternoon)
Location: Car Port
Equipment needed: Camera, Tri-pod, hand-held mirror.
Characters needed: Snow White

• The rest of scene 2 - this will have to be filmed before any other scenes as snow White's outfit will need to be clean.

5.
Date: Thursday 1st December (Afternoon)
Location: Car Port
Equipment needed: Camera, Tri-pod, hand-held mirror.
Characters needed: Snow White

• First half of scene 3 - this will have to be filmed before any other scenes as Snow White's outfit will need to be clean

We will do any additional filming if needed on Friday 2th December2011. We will create the editing on the dates below on the software, iMovie.

6.
Date:  Friday 2th December2011
Location: Media Classroom
Equipment needed: Voice recorder.
Characters needed: Snow White

• Scene 6 - we will record this in a quite, enclosed area.

7.
Date:  Friday 2th December2011
Location: Media Classroom
Equipment needed: Voice recorder.
Characters needed: Snow White

• Part of scene 2. (Prologue) - we will record this in a quite, enclosed area

8.
Date: Friday 2th December2011 and Monday 5th December 2011
Location: Media classroom
Equipment needed: Computers
Characters needed: None.

• Scene 4 - we will need to be in a computer room as a group adding in the title and credits.

Health and Safety - Props:

Completed by: Me

Here i have written a basic overview of health and safety with the props needed for the opening that we need to be aware of:

• Camera -  We will need to have a waterproof cover to protect the camera from the rain (if rains)
• Tri-pod - When at the location, we will place the tri-pod away from the cast and crew in case individuals (cast and crew) or other individuals around trip over it.
• Fake blood - We will make sure the fake blood is in a secure box, which no one can access till we use it.
• Scissors - we will have to be extremely careful with this, as this can be a health hazard if missed-used and will not expose this weapon when not using. This will placed in a secure box and only used when needed.
• Knife - We will have to be extremely careful with this, as this can be a health hazard if missed-used and will not expose this weapon when not using. This will placed in a secure box and only used when needed. When used, we will hold the kinfe by the handle pointing to the ground.
• Emergency numbers - Each cast and crew member will have the emergency numbers on them at all times. 
• First Aid kit will be provided.

All these will be taken into consideration when filming.

Sources: http://www.firstaidwarehouse.co.uk/pic/280x280/11/03/empty_small_green_first_aid_box_1_10_person_kit.jpg

Final Costume:

Completed by: Me

Nicola and I bought in some of our own clothes which we thought may suit the character of Snow White, basing the costume around the colours, red, white, blue and yellow as these are the main colours people associate with Snow White. However, we found our plan of our costume ideas below were too similar and difficult to get hold of. Although, we have now come up with an alternative:

Costume:

• Red mid length dress - Nicola
• White, plain cardigan - Tayla
• Black tights - Nicola
• Navy head band - Tayla
• Yellow or navy dolly shoes - Annie (Snow White)

Extra:

• She will wear no jewelry
• Her hair will be straight for some scenes and backcombed for others so we will need to bring a brush and hairspray - Chloe
• Scissors - Nicola
• Fake blood - Chloe

Here are some photos below of the costume:

MS of the costume



CU of costume - the thrills looks girly and modern




LS of full costume



In conclusion, I really like this new costume as it looks girly, modern and fits into the concept. This has been successful as the items were easy to get and fits the character. In addition, its not too similar to the original costume, however, does show a sense of innocence like Snow White is portrayed in the film.I admire how these colours clash with each other as red represents, excitement, energy, passion, love, desire, speed, strength, power, and danger as Snow White feels isolated and in a troublesome situation, whereas white presents reverence, purity, birth, simplicity, cleanliness, peace, humility, precision, innocence, youth, winter, snow, good, sterility and marriage, implying all things good.